CSB3: Desperate Need For A Smoke Machine In The East Coast, Canada Wildfires Don't Suffice Anymore

[Acadia18]

Off tomorrow....my wknd starts early!

hopefully delivery of my pavilion
hooking up electrical to it (already run out to the spot) size out & order ceiling fan/decorative lighting
continue cleaning old cast aluminum furniture/ maybe starting to paint
possible oil leak on Comet
hike Sunday (maybe Friday too?)
Show Sunday (Hades Town)
Clean/store winter tires
Look into tires for Mrs Mud's car (08 CRV) they're done

I've already mentioned to Mrs Mud that next weekend will be some down time

View attachment 304127

Are you trying to lure children to your property?

 

[sterkrazzy]

FL sounds on the higher side.

10k for a metal roof but it was done by a roofer that is just him and his family.

I thought 10k was a great price for how much roof I have.

View attachment 304128

I'm pretty sure my parents paid like $31k for their metal roof last year.

 

[dtfd]

.... part of the value of these things is the forced network youre buying into which can help level up your networking at a time of life that it naturally shrinks like crazy. if youre married without kids, your social circle is probably not expanding that much unless youre very hyper about meeting new people and doing new things. its not like when youre a kid and everything is new so you're always meeting new people.

sorry - wall of text/im tired of using proper cap/punctuation.

That is the entire value of a top level MBA program. The theory you're taught isn't any different at those schools, but the people you meet are.

.....Building out your network, working on projects to showcase your skills, and good previous manager recommendations can get you just as far as anyone with a degree. ......

sorry to burst your bubble on this (because I believed the exact same thing) but the answer here is, sometimes. If you're going to open your own company then no-one cares about what degree you have. If you're going to be competing for roles you can get to a certain point without a degree but you are married to the field/market you're working in. Often, you're married to the company you're working for. If you wanted to change companies or do something new you're going to have a hell of a time getting a company where no-one knows you to even give you an interview without a degree. The degree isn't there to show you can do the job, most jobs honestly do not require at all, the degree is there to simply open doors.

I say this generally of course, some jobs absolutely require degrees/certifications. Some don't at all (what salesperson has ever really benefited from the English degree they all have?) First you need to figure out what you want to do, then you can think about college. I think forcing people to go to school and borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars when they have no idea what they want from life is a mistake, and taking your time to figure out what you want and then going to school is a good thing.

 

[Strange Mud]

Sometimes = Can

Still enrolled in School of Hard Knocks

been working a long time in a field that has become highly recommended recently....Technical blue collar fixing things.

even at my age I know I could get a new gig within 2 weeks.

also....children + me have a 500 yard rule

 

[aspro_gti]

That is the entire value of a top level MBA program. The theory you're taught isn't any different at those schools, but the people you meet are.


sorry to burst your bubble on this (because I believed the exact same thing) but the answer here is, sometimes. If you're going to open your own company then no-one cares about what degree you have. If you're going to be competing for roles you can get to a certain point without a degree but you are married to the field/market you're working in. Often, you're married to the company you're working for. If you wanted to change companies or do something new you're going to have a hell of a time getting a company where no-one knows you to even give you an interview without a degree. The degree isn't there to show you can do the job, most jobs honestly do not require at all, the degree is there to simply open doors.

I say this generally of course, some jobs absolutely require degrees/certifications. Some don't at all (what salesperson has ever really benefited from the English degree they all have?) First you need to figure out what you want to do, then you can think about college. I think forcing people to go to school and borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars when they have no idea what they want from life is a mistake, and taking your time to figure out what you want and then going to school is a good thing.

The bold part is what's fucked up in my opinion. "The degree isn't there to show you can do the job" bruh... why even consider it then? Shouldn't a hiring manager hire based on qualifications rather than status (degree)? That's like allowing someone into your friend group because they wear baller clothes and look good rather than the person who you get along with best and would actually like to hang out with.
I find that a lot of times, degrees are seen as a status... as a "safe bet" for companies... and so anything outside the norm is an instant no. I think digging into a person's skills (regardless of degree or not) and figuring out if they're right for the job is a better hiring strategy than "this person went to Yale so they must be awesome"

That's my take at least.

I think we agree that some doors are closed for people like myself without a degree (insert closet door joke). However I don't think that not having a degree puts a limit on your career (meaning you can only get to a certain level). Maybe you're right and I find out the hard way (even though I plan on a more entrepreneurial path... just picking up skills and exp along the way).

Edit: Definitely have to consider industry on the above

 

[aspro_gti]

Sometimes = Can

Still enrolled in School of Hard Knocks

been working a long time in a field that has become highly recommended recently....Technical blue collar fixing things.

even at my age I know I could get a new gig within 2 weeks.

also....children + me have a 500 yard rule

Do I not count as child?

 

[dtfd]

The bold part is what's fucked up in my opinion. "The degree isn't there to show you can do the job" bruh... why even consider it then? Shouldn't a hiring manager hire based on qualifications rather than status (degree)? That's like allowing someone into your friend group because they wear baller clothes and look good rather than the person who you get along with best and would actually like to hang out with.
I find that a lot of times, degrees are seen as a status... as a "safe bet" for companies... and so anything outside the norm is an instant no. I think digging into a person's skills (regardless of degree or not) and figuring out if they're right for the job is a better hiring strategy than "this person went to Yale so they must be awesome"

That's my take at least.

I think we agree that some doors are closed for people like myself without a degree (insert closet door joke). However I don't think that not having a degree puts a limit on your career (meaning you can only get to a certain level). Maybe you're right and I find out the hard way (even though I plan on a more entrepreneurial path... just picking up skills and exp along the way).

Edit: Definitely have to consider industry on the above

Put you you just said into practical terms.

You're a hiring manager for "ForumDouche Inc, LLC". You post a job for a new mod online and in less than a week you've got over a 100 candidates for that role. Is the best method for finding a good fit to dig into each and every person's skills, have a one on one with them, and sit down to figure out if they're right for the job? Of course it is, but there is absolutely no way to do that with 100 candidates so you need to start limiting the field, ideally to 2-3 candidates. Then you can send those 2-3 along to one on one interviews.

How are you going to do that?

....let me know how many steps you get to before "college degrees/certifications" comes up as your next candidate elimination point. If you're one of those 100 applicants and you don't have a degree or a personal reference from a current forumdouche, I've got some bad news for you.

 

[Acadia18]

Put you you just said into practical terms.

You're a hiring manager for "ForumDouche Inc, LLC". You post a job for a new mod online and in less than a week you've got over a 100 candidates for that role. Is the best method for finding a good fit to dig into each and every person's skills, have a one on one with them, and sit down to figure out if they're right for the job? Of course it is, but there is absolutely no way to do that with 100 candidates so you need to start limiting the field, ideally to 2-3 candidates. Then you can send those 2-3 along to one on one interviews.

How are you going to do that?

....let me know how many steps you get to before "college degrees/certifications" comes up as your next candidate elimination point. If you're one of those 100 applicants and you don't have a degree or a personal reference from a current forumdouche, I've got some bad news for you.

Easy.

You extend an interview to someone you know who can somewhat do the job, who probably isn't nearly as many of those 99 other candidates, then give them the job.

 

[clownish]

The ability to network professionally is huge. That, at the end of the day, is why i bother maintaining relationships with schools ive gone to, jobs ive worked at, and orgs ive been a part of - you never know where your next opportunity might pop from. you can be as much of a self starter as you want, but if given the choice between someone i sort of know or a stranger, im going with the aquaintence or someone that someone else - even if its a common org - has vouched for. thats just life. id rather work with a less competent but nice personality vs a great skill set but horrible personality.

 

[cb1111]

The bold part is what's fucked up in my opinion. "The degree isn't there to show you can do the job" bruh... why even consider it then? Shouldn't a hiring manager hire based on qualifications rather than status (degree)? That's like allowing someone into your friend group because they wear baller clothes and look good rather than the person who you get along with best and would actually like to hang out with.
I find that a lot of times, degrees are seen as a status... as a "safe bet" for companies... and so anything outside the norm is an instant no. I think digging into a person's skills (regardless of degree or not) and figuring out if they're right for the job is a better hiring strategy than "this person went to Yale so they must be awesome"

That's my take at least.

I think we agree that some doors are closed for people like myself without a degree (insert closet door joke). However I don't think that not having a degree puts a limit on your career (meaning you can only get to a certain level). Maybe you're right and I find out the hard way (even though I plan on a more entrepreneurial path... just picking up skills and exp along the way).

Edit: Definitely have to consider industry on the above

Put you you just said into practical terms.

You're a hiring manager for "ForumDouche Inc, LLC". You post a job for a new mod online and in less than a week you've got over a 100 candidates for that role. Is the best method for finding a good fit to dig into each and every person's skills, have a one on one with them, and sit down to figure out if they're right for the job? Of course it is, but there is absolutely no way to do that with 100 candidates so you need to start limiting the field, ideally to 2-3 candidates. Then you can send those 2-3 along to one on one interviews.

How are you going to do that?

....let me know how many steps you get to before "college degrees/certifications" comes up as your next candidate elimination point. If you're one of those 100 applicants and you don't have a degree or a personal reference from a current forumdouche, I've got some bad news for you.

The question really isn't "do you need a degree?" but "do the clowns hiring you think that you need a degree?"

I wrote an article on just this a few years ago - that hiring managers never did the math when they set up job vacancy requirements. How many times have we seen "Master's degree in a related field plus 10 years specialized experience?"

So let's do the math:

HS graduation at 18
Associates at 20
BA at 22 (assuming you don't take any time off along the way
MA at 24
General experience (to figure out what side is up) - two years , so 26
10 years of specialized experience - so 36

Realistically then, you're looking for somebody born in the 70's

Is education important? Certainly. I have an ABD in political science and nuclear power politics. Have I used it? Nope.
Was my 20 years experience in emergency management far more valuable? You bet.
Was my experience writing policy valuable for starting in emergency Management? Absolutely
Was learning how to write properly important for writing policy? I couldn't have done it without that

But my degree (especially since it was all done in German) didn't really help much. But the "Masters equivalent" got me my first professional gig.

 

[cb1111]

The ability to network professionally is huge. That, at the end of the day, is why i bother maintaining relationships with schools ive gone to, jobs ive worked at, and orgs ive been a part of - you never know where your next opportunity might pop from. you can be as much of a self starter as you want, but if given the choice between someone i sort of know or a stranger, im going with the aquaintence or someone that someone else - even if its a common org - has vouched for. thats just life. id rather work with a less competent but nice personality vs a great skill set but horrible personality.

Absolutely - but you've got to get there first.

 

[mwoodski]

theres also the fun part of that where you can interview two people and one is better qualified for the job than the other but they're obnoxious and abrasive in the interview process and you take the less qualified person because you know they'll get along better with everyone in the team.

 

[Nineeightyone]

You know the guy I was talking about that had an STX prepped Tacoma? Well he and his wife run an AC business in GA and they did my last AC when we sold our rental house up there back in 2019, so I trust them.

I went through the high low readings with them, they immediately said if it's a carrier, it's the coils, and at 12 years old, not worth replacing, because it's a $4k job. If the compressor goes in a year, you might as well have just replaced it.

And they said avoid the 2 stage Lenox system. They're super unreliable. They said get the cheap Goodman, all the AC company's use the exact same components. The difference is all down to install and how much warranty you want.

So I feel better about it. I'll just suck it up and shell out the $10k, plus the roof. There goes my modding and vacation funds for the year, but hey being an adult home owner is fun.

A couple years we got a Goodman system installed. But then I finished 3rd in our class to my wife who finished 2nd (both of us behind an STS NA Miata), so you might live to regret the Goodman

I also like the idea of being in control when doing something (I don't cut corners).

With most of my life ahead of me, I'm trying to pick up on things from others older than me. So I got a question. Separate bank accounts between me and future Mrs.Aspro forever?

So you're gonna live in a round house?

Really though, me and Mrs. Nine have separate bank accounts, but use a spreadsheet (because I'm a nerd) to balance out our costs so that everything gets split 50/50. I wind up transferring money to her biweekly since more of the bills are in her name, but we're still paying equal shares, and the spreadsheets have record of me paying her to make everything square. You can do one bank account or two, but honestly I find two makes it easier because we communicate, which is gonna be the key to any good relationship. We talk about bigger purchases, I usually ask her before I buy something big for the car, and we talk before committing to bigger house projects. BUT, there's no 'oh well I put x into the joint account and you need to put y in to match', my money is still mine BUT we're pretty transparent.

Oh, and it's not romantic, but get a prenup, while things are good. It's easy insurance that you both hope will never be used, but it makes it easy in the event someone wants to split up.

Money is the #1 thing that couples fight about. If you remember that, it makes it easy to recognize when you and Mrs. Aspro are about to get into it about something dumb. Your partner is supposed to be a teammate, and the hope is that you both support each other's weaknesses with your own strengths.

also RE: education, I dropped out of college roughly three weeks in. I thought I wanted to teach Highschool English. Got my foot in the door by a stroke of luck doing laptop/tablet repairs, and then from there IT jobs. Networking helped, but also being able to grow within my hobbies and build skills to make a career viable. Current job as a glorified printer mechanic (computers too) interview was a lot of me talking about my homelab and automotive hobbies, where I built and improved my skills fixing things AND troubleshooting/understanding processes.

 

[Acadia18]

theres also the fun part of that where you can interview two people and one is better qualified for the job than the other but they're obnoxious and abrasive in the interview process and you take the less qualified person because you know they'll get along better with everyone in the team.

As long as the less qualified person can still do the job, I don't see an issue with that. In a team based environment, the ability to mesh with everyone else is a pretty crucial thing.

 

[Nineeightyone]

People skills > Technical skills. I've worked with enough IT nerds to see that the ones that aren't personable and lack people skills tend to stay stuck at levels where they're kept away from interaction with others, and generally don't get into the upper levels. You can teach technical skills, but people skills will go very far and make others want to help you learn and succeed.